It all started when I collapsed at work on the afternoon of 26/8/99 shortly after lunch. I began to feel dizzy and I remember calling out in a loud voice 'excuse me, but I am in serious trouble' before lying down on the floor. The dizziness sensation that I felt seemed like I was going to faint but much worse. By lying on the floor I avoided passing out. My work mates came to my aid and the next thing I remember is the Ambulance crew beside me, which after their checks transported me to 'out-patients' at Westmead hospital.

Work had tried to contact my wife, as did the hospital, work finally contacted her, she came down in the early evening. During this period the hospital began their checks with nothing conclusive. At around midnight I remember the nurse coming to the bed and announcing that they had to decide whether they would keep me over night as an 'out-patient' or send me home. I don't know if I spoke but I remember thinking or saying, keep me over-night because there is no way that I can walk to the car at this time. They kept me overnight as an 'out-patient'.

What follows is what I have been able to piece together as a result of talking to people, as I have no recollections of the Friday to Tuesday.

Friday morning my wife rang to see what was happening. She was advised that I was being taken for a CTT scan and that I was experiencing a mild headache. She indicated that she would come to the hospital. The CTT scan revealed what was really happening, in medical terms a 'Bilateral Cerebellar Infarcts' complicated by an 'intracerebal bleed', or in other terms a severe stroke. By the time the scan was complete I believe that I was in a coma. By the time that my wife had arrived I had been rushed to surgery for an emergency neuro operation. I spent the next 10-11 days in intensive care, the first 5 in a coma, as part of the 4 weeks at Westmead hospital followed with another 5 weeks at St Joseph's Hospital (rehabilitation).

The next thing that I can remember is when the nurse was pushing a pen into my nails (hands and feet) trying to wake me up sometime on the Tuesday after the operation. They had been trying this for several days. I remember feeling the pain in my hands and thought if I wiggle my toes they wouldn't get them. I did and they didn't. This is where I start to remember my recovery.

It was on the Sunday during this period that my wife was advised that I was most likely not going to make it. I have been able to prove them wrong with my recovery.

Whilst in intensive care I was aware that I was in hospital, even intensive care, but had not understood the meaning of intensive care. Being told I was in hospital computed because I had arrived yesterday or so I thought. I could not understand why the nurses kept tweaking the machine(s) that were on the wall behind me. It was only later that I realised they were the life support/monitoring machines that I had been hooked up to. Of the things that were attached to me I remember the following:- drain tubes from the operation, feed tube through the nose, a trachea tube in my throat to assist breathing (this also prevented me from talking), leads attached to my chest, arms and legs monitoring my heart and vital signs, a lead pegged to my finger monitoring my pulse, a catheter, a cannula and leads in my arms. A rubber ring was used to support my head from the incision down the back of my head and neck. I have been told that there was also a tube down my mouth. They had also commenced medication giving me Dilantin (an anti fitting agent).

In intensive care there was a nurse bedside 24 hours a day. But I also became aware of the many visitors that were coming to see me, foremost my wife and children, immediate family (this includes my father, sister and brother from Melbourne), family friends, my church family, and work mates. For the most part I was not moving much and unable to talk.

As I improved it became time to be transferred to ward 5D, a high dependency ward. This occurred approximately 6th September. With this change, the leads on my chest, arms and legs were removed. The pipe in my mouth had also been removed, (I believe this was before I came to). The cannula also came out around this time. I was in this ward approximately 1 week before being transferred to ward 5C, which is a ward one step down from high dependency. During all this time there was a constant battery of tests being performed; CTT scans, chest exrays, blood tests, MIR scan, medication injections plus the usual observations for blood pressure, temperature.

One of the CTT scans occurred on a weekend and the duty operator was called. I remember there was a conversation between the doctor and the operator. She was being told what I had suffered and what was required. When she opened the curtain I remember her saying 'Oh no, not this Mr Brown'. It turns out that I knew her as she had been at high school with my daughter.

Another complication of the recovery also happened around this time. It was a large (L) DVT, (blood clot in the left leg). They introduced knee high surgical stockings to be worn all the time and put me on Warfarin (blood thinning agent).

The blood tests showed that I was possibly a diabetic and as a result I was also on put Insulin. Not being a diabetic before-hand this was put down to the concoction that I was being fed through the nose tube being full of vitamins and minerals upsetting my metabolism. The insulin stopped when I came off the nose tube.

Whist in these last two wards I also found it frustrating, because I could not talk and it was difficult communicating, not only with my visitors but also with the nurses who would come to me to roll me or bed change etc. The first thing they would do would be to put the nurse call button if it was beside me, to above the bed head, perform the task and leave the room without returning the call button. This was out of my reach and as I couldn't talk I would have to lie there until someone came into my room. To counter this, I discovered that if I pushed the pulse peg off my finger the machine would alert. This became an alternate way to call for attention if nothing else was available.

On Monday 20/9/1999 the Trachea tube was removed (joy, I could start to talk again) and I was placed on a soft food diet and thickened fluids (nectar quality orange/apple juice or thickened milk). Thickened milk didn't mix with the weet-bix or rice bubbles for breakfast so they remained uneaten. (The other meals arrived as normal, not soft cut-up as they should have been), and I only 'picked' at them. It was also difficult to feel hungry when I was still being fed via the nose tube which was not removed until Tuesday 21/9/1999.

On the Thursday morning 23/9/1999 I underwent an ultra-sound on the arteries in my neck. They indicated that the arteries were in good order and not a cause of the stroke. At lunch time I was transferred to St Joseph's hospital, which has a prime purpose for rehabilitation. The entire stay within Westmead I had been close enough to flat on my back.

At this stage the best that was thought was that I would be a vegetable, not able to walk, have speech problems and memory problems. I still don't think that what had occurred to me had sunk in. That realisation was still to come.

When I arrived at St. Joseph's I required two people to assist me out of bed and transfer me to a chair. During the afternoon and the next day I had meetings with people from the various groups that I would be involved with. Social worker, for being a go between and general welfare issues. Dietician, looking after my dietary requirements. The first test being fluids and I was put on normal fluids, this meant normal drinks including water and normal milk (I could now have soggy weet-bix for breakfast). My meals remained as soft cut-up, but also included soups. Speech Therapist. Occupational Therapist. Diversional Therapist. Head nurse of the ward, she wondered why I was there (I suppose that she had seen a number of stoke victims of the stroke I had had and expected that I would not recover). I proved her wrong. Dr Sandanam, he was my overseeing doctor for the duration of my stay. Physiotherapist, the first of daily sessions began on the Friday where she took notes on what I could achieve including walking. Walking was initially achieved by me wearing a 'jony belt'. This belt goes around the stomach and has support handles on it for the nurses to support me when walking. My first attempt, I shuffled 5 metres assisted by two nurses. One last person that I did not meet but had several sessions with was the Clinical Neuro Psychologist.

At the end of the first week I had learnt to be able to sit up at the side of the bed unaided. From there with assistance I could stand, turn and sit in a wheel chair. Using the wheel chair I was able to attend the dining room for all meals. It only took me a couple of days to be able to do this independently. In physio I was starting to walk short distances with the 'jony' belt and assisted by the physio. I was also doing a 'sit-to-stand-to-sit' movement. The speech therapist also had a session with me, which consisted a discussion and a test. The test contained written and oral sections. The written test I did alright except for a couple of the maths sums. I am blaming my double vision for mis-reading some numbers. I did the maths manually while she corrected using a calculator. My speech was all right and no further sessions were had.

On the Thursday afternoon I had a home visit with the occupational therapist. This was to check out the house with a view for wheel chair access. As a result, the hospital provided a temporary ramp for the two steps at the front porch. I was granted day leave on two days of the long week-end, with the aid of a wheel chair.

Week 2 at the hospital continued with the daily physio sessions. These sessions continued with the sit-to-stand & stand-to-sit exercises. These had to be achieved from a sitting height of 43 cm without aid. Achieved by the end of the week. Walking was on a 10 metre run and by the end of the week I was doing approximately 6 - 8 runs with the 'jony' belt and the physio assisting by being close if required. Foot stepping exercises introduced at a stepping height of 8 cm. There was also a number of eye hand exercises which included tying a shoelace, using utensils for feeding, as examples. I should note that to get around not only in the ward but also to get to and from physio, a wheel chair was used. The first of several sessions was held with the Clinical neuro phsyciatryst. These consisted of tests to check both short and long term memory. In the ward I had progressed further in being able to sit then stand beside the bed from which I could then sit in the wheel chair if it was next to the bed. This was all unaided but with assistance nearby. On the Thursday the Catheter tube was removed.

I was granted weekend leave for this and subsequent weekends. I could go home from approx. 5 PM on the Friday and have to be back by 8 PM on the Sunday. I was in the wheel chair for this weekend. I took the wheel chair home the following weekend but did not use it.

Early in week 3 I was allowed to start walking in the ward under supervision. By the end of the week I gained my walking independence within the ward. This was achieved by walking initially with the 'jony' belt and only having assistance nearby then without the belt. Other exercises were introduced, these included learning to use stairs, toe stepping, and walking a line heel-to-toe. There was also a 6 minute timed walk. The sessions with the clinical neuro phsyciatryst were completed. No serious abnormalities were found. I was also asked to sell raffle tickets for a birthday party being planned for next week.

At the start of week 4 my walking independence was increased to include getting from the ward on level 1 to the physio ward on the ground floor without assistance. Additional routines were introduced in physio to include the walking machine and assisted walking in an outdoors environment. This week also included a couple of sessions with the Occupational therapist. The first was a session in a kitchen where I baked a cake. The second was to look at a PC and fix a problem they were having with the screen blanking out. It turned out to be Bios settings for power save incorrectly set. Outside of normal sessions I also began putting a jigsaw together. On the Wednesday afternoon there was a birthday party which was for all patients and staff of the ward and ward patients from the past twelve months. This was for St. Luke's day which is the saint the ward is named after.

It is likely that I could have been sent home at the end of week 4 if I was able to return as an outpatient several times a week to physio. This not being possible due to distance, I spent week 5 at the hospital. By the Tuesday of this week I gained walking independence outdoors. All exercises were kept up and included another 6 minute timed walk along with a final assessment report at the end of the week prior to discharge. Prior to discharge on the Friday I had an appointment with the Mary St. eye clinic. I was advised that I could surgically correct the diplopia, however, I should wait at least 12 months before considering this as it is expected to correct over the next 6 - 9 months. Wearing an eye patch alternately on each eye approx every 3 hours is recommended. An eye test was conducted (required) in which both eyes have been cleared for driving single with a patch on the other eye. Driving still requires a driving assessment and doctors certification to go ahead.

Discharged from St Joseph's hospital 29/10/1999 as independent. The main problem I had was Diplopia (Double vision).

For my entire duration at hospital, 9 weeks, I can say that my wife only missed 5 days in which she did not visit and those days only occurred in the latter weeks. The hospitals were in the range of 40-50 Kilometers from where I live.

Since leaving hospital, besides weekly Physio sessions, GP and Specialists visits, pathology visits, I have had a number of mile stones.

18/11/99 A Transoesophagel Echocardiogram (TOE for short). This is an ultra-sound of the heart from within the oesophagus looking for a hole in the heart. Advised that none found. Can write this off as a cause of the stroke.

3/2/00 Off road driving assesment carried out. It covered physical, medical and mental aspects as well as knowledge of road rules.

14/2/00 Returned to work part time. I started 3 days a week at 3 hours per day. I have worked up to 6.5 hours per day 3 days a week at present. My job is as a 'network specialist' in data communications.

18/2/00 Results in from blood tests. Finally a reason as to why my stroke occured, but does not explain how it happened. I tested positive for 'factor V leiden mutation' (hereditary), I was also transiently positive on two other elements 'lupus inhibitor' and 'anticardiolipin lgG antibody'.These three out-of-wack elements caused my stroke. Warfarin for me is for life.

30/3/00 On road driving assesment. I passed a one and a half hour session. This was also achieved with full vision. My diplopia having slowly become good. It can still occur, paticularly when I'm tired. So driving will be taken easily for a while. This advent also means my full independance and my wife can now take a break. She has had to take me to my various appointments up until now.

Considering that medically, having survived, I should be nothing better than a vegetable. I am now independant, walking without aid, talking normally, and have no known memory problems.

With the care and support from medical staff, family and friends, numerous prayers, and a positive attitude, I believe that it has all been possible through the grace of God. This came home to me in an interview in February with my surgeon when she said that she was not religous but that I had had God on my side. It was the only way she could describe why I was doing what I was doing.

To Sagasha and the members of this web site, thankyou for the stories that I have read, they are an encouragement that we are not alone out there and anything is possible. If you have read this far, I thank you for reading my story.

May God bless you all.

Peter Brown

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